Star Fleet 1 - 2nd Edition
Alternative title: Star Fleet I: The War Begins
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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In Star Fleet I: The War Begins, you are a cadet fresh out of Starfleet Academy and have assigned to command your first U.G.A.S. Starship! The Federation is currently at war with Krellans and Zaldrons, so choose your first ship from the Federation starport and prepare for your first mission!

The graphics of the PC version of Star Fleet I: The War Begins are represented by ASCII characters. Everything from your starship, the mainframe to torpedoes are all ASCII characters. 

Gameplay

 Gameplay consists of fulfilling the target number enemy kills mentioned in the mission briefing in a specified amount of time. Higher levels demands more kills and less time requirements. Gameplay consists of 2 major areas:
Main Computer and Navigation
 Your starship is equipped with state of the art navigation equipment. The main screen displays your main visual display, consisting of the main star chart map, your current position and visual displays. Other sections/information of the starship maybe accessed through the appropriate buttons.

Navigation may be conducted automatically or manually. Standard navigation (automatically) is conducted by accessing the main computer and setting out a course. Higher levels may result on random events during navigation (such as electrical storms, running into asteroids or enemy ships). 

Each map is randomly generated and also uncharted. Each quadrant is represented by numbers, where each number refers to: Stars, Starbases and number of enemy ships. Your starship is also equipped with long-ranged sensors to view adjacent quadrants an well as short-ranged sensors to view your current surroundings. For even further exploration, your starship also has probes to scan far-away quadrants. 

Combat: Starships, Starbases, and Marines
 Combat is the essence of gameplay in Star Fleet I: The War Begins. Entities in a combat situation may consist of the following: Your starship, enemy Krellan starships (max 5 per quadrant), enemy cloaked Zaldron starships (usually one per quadrant), allied Starbase and Space Marines.

Combat initiates when your starship enters a hostile quadrant (portrayed by a red number on the main map), usually patrolled by a minimum of 1 (one) Krellan starship. Red Alert is automatically set (unless configured otherwise) resulting the rising of shields and direct attack by enemy starships. 

Enemy starships are either Krellan starships or the Zaldron cloaked. Krellan starships fire only phasors to soften up your shields. Although your starship is greatly over-matched compared to a single Krellan starship, numerous enemy ships will prove very dangerous. Zaldron starships are unique as they have the ability to cloak (invisible on the both map screens). Zaldrons also use phasers as their main weapon.

This type of combat consists of either eliminating all hostiles in the present quadrant (by destroying the enemy ships) or by capturing those ships (and optionally delivering them to a starbase). Your main arsenal consist of Phaser, Torpedoes and Mines. Torpedoes are reserved for direct destruction of enemy vessels. Phasers are usually reserved for the intent of disabling an enemy vessel for capturing purposes. Mines are used to damage enemy vessels that have the bad habit of moving around when eluding your torpedoes.

Capturing enemy vessels may only be conducted when the enemy vessel is disabled (by phasers or other means). Space Marines then must board the adjacent ship and automatic combat occurs between your space marines and the enemy crew. If successful, the enemy ship will be captured as well as some power reserves and enemy prisoners. Be warned that enemy prisoners or enemy spies may board your ship without your knowing and damage your ships systems (indicated by "Intruder Alert"). The enemy ship may then be towed to be transported to a Starbase.

If enemies prove to much for you and your heavily damaged ship, you can opt for "Self-Destruction". Be warned, you will survive but it may hamper your mission score greatly.

Unique combat situations refer to "Starbase Under Attack" where an allied Starbase is under attack by enemy starships, requiring your immediate attention for rescue.
 After successfully completing a mission, your mission success is rated: Number of enemies destroyed, captured, starbases rescued, etc. You will then be considered for a promotion or a commendation for a medal!

Trivia

The "Star Fleet Officers Academy Training Manual" was dedicated to the astronauts who died in the Challenger explosion, on January 28, 1986.

Did you know that INTERSTEL also wanted to release a BOARDGAME of Star Fleet? It's advertised in my 1988 product catalog with a small picture...would have been great fun, I guess...

Did you know that there is an honorary rank above admiral? I have achived this rank!

Interstel also released a version for the Apple II, and the gane had random "ion storms" which would knock out your shields. This feature was removed on the PC and the Atari versions of the game.

The game also featured a cloaking device (for the Zaldrons), occasional saboteurs onboard your ship (either beamed in by Zaldrons or snuck onboard when you resupplied at Starbase), security alerts per deck (to flush out the saboteurs), marine boarding parties (to capture enemy ships), tractor beams (to tow captured enemy ships to the starbase), and much more. 

The saboteur can move from deck to deck, taking out different equipment as he moves!

When originally released, the game comes only with a "User's Manual", with a coupon for the "Advanced Tactics Manual" when released. (I can neither confirm nor deny this, since my original Star Fleet came with the Star Fleet Officer's Manual and seems pretty advanced.

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Description from the packaging:

Star Fleet I "The War Begins" Version 2.1 by Trevor Sorensen.
You have completed your training at the Academy. Now is the time to see if those long hours pay off as you accept command of one of the most powerful fighting ships in the known universe- the Invincible class heavy cruiser. Your mission: protect the outer regions of the Alliance from the invading warships of the Krellan and Zaldron empires. You emerge from hyperspace in the Deneb IV region, confident of success- to find yourself surrounded by Krellan destroyers!

Widely acclaimed, Star Fleet I is the first in a series of Star Fleet space strategy games. As the commander of one of 36 galactic heavy cruisers, you control 13 ship systems and are responsible for the lives of 500 crew members while you aggressively eliminate the enemy. Rescuing starbases, capturing and towing enemy vessels, laying mine fields, searching for intruders and repairing damaged systems are all part of a successful battle plan.

You have at your fingertips the use of nearly two dozen starship commands including: phasers, torpedos, shields, transporters, mines, tractor beams, navigation, long-range probes, damage control, internal security, computers, and more. You are automatically given more challenging missions as your command abilities improve, and are awarded decorations for outstanding service as a Starship Commander.

Star Fleet I features:

Full color battle action.
Enemy tactical and strategic movement.
Thirteen starship systems simulated.
More than 20 commands available.
Sophisticated weapons fire control systems- auto/manual.
Damage control for repairing starship systems.
Tractor beam, transporters and space marines for capturing and towing enemy vessels.
Internal starship security to protect vital systems and deal with enemy intruders.
Choice of 36 starships for command assignments.
Four independent defensive energy shields.
Save/resume feature for saving games in progress.
Special awards and Star Fleet promotions.

Star Fleet games are action-packed starship simulations that require high-level strategy to defeat an intelligent enemy. They feature color battle action, sound effects and music. Ship movements and torpedo tracks are displayed on the Tactical Display, and you can see and hear (and some claim even "feel") the explosions that occur when one of your weapons strikes home!

The Star Fleet I package includes:
Comprehensive 100-page Officers Manual.
Quick Reference Command Card.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/star-fleet-i-the-war-begins/
